Flexibility in the Workplace

The New England Patriots pride themselves on their ability to recruit team members who can fill multiple roles effectively. Pat’s fans remember when wide receiver Troy Brown played cornerback when needed, or when linebacker Mike Vrabel would morph into a tight end and snag touchdowns. These players had to be versatile to help the team. In construction, we’re doing the same thing.

I spend part of my time as field super, and part of my time APM, which puts me in in a unique position: my job is to cross boundaries and bring streamlined communication from the project management side to the field, and vise-versa. Not everyone is willing to help out—but the right people will be. In the construction industry, there is so much overlap between the various stages of a project that it’s frustrating when no defined points indicate where one task ends and another begins. This makes it so important for everyone to be willing to do their part, and sometimes help with someone else’s part, so that projects can run as smooth as possible.

In my brief time here I see this trait in almost every employee I have come in contact with:

There are senior project managers who run projects and help with business development.

There are cost engineers (estimators) who carry a project from initial design through pre-construction, staying involved during the construction process.

Members from our Virtual Design Construction and IT teams are in the field laser scanning for pre-con one day; the next, they’re in the office processing those scans, building models, and keeping systems running.

Project managers leave the office to spend days and weeks on site to assist superintendents with the closeout a project.

Flexibility is a valued trait here, and it’s part of being a team player. Tocci has found a large group of individuals who care more about the overall good of the company and the projects than the title that they hold.